Known Vancouver bike thief arrested thanks to bait bike program

DH Vancouver StaffNov 17, 2015 3:57 pm

The Vancouver Police Department said they arrested a well-known bike thief thanks to the bait bike program.

The VPD said they had a bike locked up at a rack on West Pender and Richards Streets downtown when a man approached it shortly after 10 p.m. on November 15. Officers watched him break the lock and take the bike.

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He was arrested, and they found the 24-year-old was in possession of 50 rounds of ammunition and tools. The VPD has requested he be charged with mischief and theft.

The bait bike program, while valuable, is only one aspect of preventing bike thefts in Vancouver.

“Unfortunately in the city of Vancouver, we’ve seen an increase in bike theft despite some of the efforts that we’ve been implementing,” Constable Brian Montague told Vancity Buzz.

Montague said the new 529 bike registry is one of the best ways to be able to recover stolen bikes. Owners can register the serial number of their bikes, which will allow officers to be able to return it to you without any issues.

Almost 3000 bikes are stolen each year, with hundreds recovered. Without a registered serial number, these bikes are never reunited with their owners.

“We’re really hoping people take a bit of initiative themselves. We want to make sure that people invest in a really good bike lock – that’s sort of priority number one – after they record their serial numbers,” said Constable Montague.